On Thursday morning, I fired up my truck and drove to work like I always do. I drove it home at the end of the day.

Friday morning, I started it up no problem. However, it was really hard to get it into 1st gear (it's a 5-speed), and after I let off the clutch, it started slipping really bad. I was lucky to have the problem in my parking lot, as I was able to get it back to my parking spot.

Question is, what happened? Is it just a low fluid issue? Is the clutch going bad? I don't feel comfortable working on transmission problems, so I'll probably need to take it to a transmission shop, if need be.

I'm a little ashamed to admit I don't know much about transmissions, but then again, that's why I come here. You guys always have helpful information.

(I should mention the clutch pedal has been going a lot farther to the floor lately than I'd like.)

A long shot- my Ranger was doing the same thing.Turned out the slave cyl in the bell housing was shot. I had been adding brake fluid as needed to top it off then finally when the weather turned cold it just gave up.

It sounds like you have air in the system, or one of the cylinders isn't operating correctly. First step is to bleed the clutch - it's reasonably easy, and you might get lucky. Procedures for that can be found all over the internet. It helps to have a lovely assistant. If that doesn't work, and you're not comfortable servicing it yourself, it's probably time to take it in.

I'd get a length of plastic hose that fits securely on the end of your bleeder screw, and run that into an old glass jar with 1-3" of brake fluid in it. Keeping the end of the hose in the fluid will prevent air getting sucked back up into the system, and make less mess than a rag. I always had my partner pump the clutch before pressing and holding - don't know if that's universal or not.

If I do end up replacing the clutch, is it possible to do without a transmission jack? I don't have one, and don't think I can afford to get one (don't have a place to keep it if I did). Does anybody loan them?

Seems odd that you would need to blip the throttle upshifting. maybe the revs are dropping too much while you're shifting? Do you shift quickly? If the tach jumps when you declutch, it could mean your synchros are wearing?

BlackIce_GTS wrote:M is a number somewhere between 53 and 75, X is between 12 and 13